Every new year brings resolutions, most of them personal. This year, the Jewish community should make a collective effort to finally tackle tuition affordability while a real, unprecedented opportunity is within reach.
Jewish education is more than schooling. At a time of rising antisemitism and growing pressure on Jewish life worldwide, ensuring families can access strong Jewish education is not optional. It is essential.
For the first time, Jewish families are not simply naming the problem or hoping for relief. There is now a concrete policy that can significantly reduce the cost of Jewish education for families nationwide. This year is different, not because the crisis has grown, but because the solution has arrived.
Slashing the costs of Jewish education
For decades, Jewish parents have done the same calculations year after year. Tuition. Security. Transportation. Kosher food. After school care. The costs add up relentlessly. For many middle-income families, the decision is no longer between one school and another. It is between financial stability and an education that sustains Jewish identity, safety, and continuity.
For years, Teach Coalition, alongside partner advocacy organizations, has worked to improve tuition affordability by leveraging untapped government funding. We helped secure critical funding for school security, STEM education, and educational resources. Those efforts laid essential groundwork. Now, for the first time, a federal policy exists that can meaningfully reduce the cost of Jewish education and transform what affordability means for families in the years ahead.
The policy allows individuals to receive a federal income tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to approved scholarship organizations. Those funds are then used to help families pay for education expenses, including tuition for nonpublic and religious schools. Families earning up to 300 percent of the area median income are eligible, ensuring relief reaches those most often left out of existing assistance programs.
What makes this year particularly pivotal is a shift in political engagement.
Republican governors have long supported education choice initiatives and are expected to opt in. What is new is growing engagement from Democratic governors. This matters deeply, since many of the largest Jewish communities in the United States live in states led by Democratic administrations.
As the new year begins, some governors are recognizing that opting into the program aligns with their broader priorities. With affordability a top concern nationwide, the program offers a tangible way for families to manage rising costs. It strengthens Jewish and other minority communities, stabilizes schools that provide childcare, mental health services, and security infrastructure, and brings federal resources into states without drawing from state budgets or public school funding.
Still, recognizing the benefits does not automatically lead to action.
Participation is voluntary and state-driven. Funding is federal and donor-based, not state-appropriated. These features make action possible, not inevitable. This opportunity will only be realized if communities speak up clearly and persistently.
Teach Coalition is leading a national effort to ensure this moment does not pass quietly. We are engaging governors and their teams, building coalitions across communities, and coordinating grassroots advocacy. That work depends on families, schools, and community leaders committing to this as a New Year's resolution for 2026 by signing action alerts, sharing information, encouraging participation, and attending advocacy briefings and community events.
No single policy will eliminate tuition challenges overnight. But progress in Jewish education has always come through sustained engagement. Transportation assistance helped. Meal programs helped. Security funding helped. Each moved forward because communities stayed involved and demanded solutions.
As this new year begins, the Jewish community has a rare chance to turn a shared resolution into meaningful change. Strengthening Jewish education in America strengthens the Jewish future everywhere. The opportunity is real. The timing is right. Now we must choose to act.
The writer is the CEO of the Teach Coalition.